Hannah Lembright has the experience and professional qualifications that uniquely qualify her as the new executive director of Casa de Paz: several years of working with mothers of young children, fluency in Spanish honed in Costa Rica, Mexico and Spain, a college double major in Spanish and social justice, and an internship working for Kentucky Refugee Ministries.
Hannah’s most important qualification, though, is perhaps her attitude of the role Casa de Paz should play in the lives of the women the organization supports.
“It’s important for us to listen to their voices and what they need,” says Hannah, who started at Casa de Paz in May. “If what they want is different than what we’re providing, then maybe we need to evolve.”
Hannah’s love of Spanish began in high school, with classroom learning enriched by mission trips to Costa Rica. “When I went to Costa Rica, I loved the culture and the people, and I kept learning so I could communicate with them,” she says. “I felt like I identified with the warm culture, the culture of valuing friendships and family.”
A year in Mexico between high school and college deepened her love for the language and the culture, and the Fort Thomas native chose Spanish and social justice as her majors at Eastern Kentucky University. Her internship with the refugee agency brought her awareness of the unique needs and challenges of immigrant populations in everything from legal status to access to benefits.
Hannah was working at Child Focus in Clermont County in the years leading up to her new position. As program coordinator of home-based services, she supervised, trained and coached employees who did home visits to parents of young children. She loved the ability to support parents as primary educators and help them connect to services, both as a front-line worker and later in a supervisory position, and the work allowed her to grow leadership skills. But she missed working with immigrants on a full-time basis, so when she came across the Casa de Paz role, she jumped at the chance to apply.
Hannah’s priorities for the organization include ensuring that everything is documented and refining a system for policies and procedures. She’d like to bring more structure to the volunteer program and streamline the volunteer process, and she’d also like to find ways to collaborate with other organizations. Mostly, though, she wants to honor the women who live at Casa de Paz by giving them what they need to heal and thrive.
“I’ve worked with a lot of moms and I’ve found so much resiliency and putting their children first so their children can have a great life,” she says. “Some of the situations the women here have been through are stunning and I don’t know how they’ve done it..”
